# Gonna be EXCITING, V3!!!



## glhs837

Getting ramped to do this flying/tipping/falling/flipping/landing pointy silo thing yet again..... Expecting a static fire in the next few days, might fly before the end of the week. Same profile as before, expecting a little less boom this time. Pic shows scale pretty well. Methinks the Udvar-Hazy centers gonna need another, larger, wing. And if he pulls this off, this thing will belong there.


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## Sneakers

It's starting to look more and more like a Buck Rogers version of spaceship.


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## glhs837

In a way, thats sorta the model. Land your spaceship somewhere, then jump back in and take off. Seen the lunar lander version? 

Could almost pack one of the competitions two stage landers inside and bring it back with you.


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## Clem72

Elon claims Starship will reduce costs to $10/Kg to orbit. For that price you could send your own ass on a flight around the moon for the cost of a minivan.  Things are going to get interesting.


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## glhs837

Clem72 said:


> Elon claims Starship will reduce costs to $10/Kg to orbit. For that price you could send your own ass on a flight around the moon for the cost of a minivan.  Things are going to get interesting.



Just like aircraft, once you stop throwing your vehicle away after every flight, cost drop like a rock.


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## glhs837

TFRs posted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which indicates intention to launch. Tests, uncertainty, yadayada.......


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## Indoyota

Kinda looks similar to the Surviving Mars game space ship.


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## glhs837

So, static fire number 2 imminenet in the next five-10 minutes, they just started chilling the engines.


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## glhs837

So, three distinct static fires today, refining the light and relight process, mastering the engines. Next step, a repeat of the SN8 flight, with hopefully a rocket that can, but most likely won't, be reused again. Not with SN10, 11, and 15 waiting in the wings almost ready to go.


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## glhs837

Damn, after a few burps yesterday, they are hitting it early again today. Wasnt even expecting it, but I leave the labpadre feed up, and they only talk when things are happening. I was making coffee and they started talking.....


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## stgislander

Interesting.  NASASpaceflight doesn't have anything live at the moment besides their Port Canaveral Fleet Cam.


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## stgislander

NASASpaceflight just went live.


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## glhs837

And looked like a good three engine static fire. At 8:59:38 or so if you want to back up the feed.


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## stgislander

I just caught the static fire.  I guess I was surprised how short it was.  If you blinked, you missed it.


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## Sneakers

stgislander said:


> I just caught the static fire.  I guess I was surprised how short it was.  If you blinked, you missed it.


Same here.  Had about 3 seconds from opening the link to the fire, a quick burst, and done.


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## glhs837

This were "cleaner" than yesterday. I suspect they've been smoothing the engine start checklist, trying to get the flow and parameters all working together.


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## stgislander

The guys at NASASpaceflight were saying SN9 could be ready for the 10km flight as early as Monday.


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## glhs837

stgislander said:


> The guys at NASASpaceflight were saying SN9 could be ready for the 10km flight as early as Monday.



I agree, could be.


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## Monello

I thought this was going to be a thread about tomato juice.


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## glhs837

Monello said:


> I thought this was going to be a thread about tomato juice.



Only if things go terribly wrong. 


Anyway, they attached the explosive Flight Termination System (FTS) packages to the rocket yesterday, which signals intent to fly Monday.


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## stgislander

NASASpaceflight reporting SN9 will fly sometime today between 12 pm- 6pm CST.


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## glhs837

I hope so, right now its still got a few manlifts around.


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## stgislander

Supposedly they still have to remove fin tie downs and connect the FTS lanyards.


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## stgislander

Although launch prep is continuing, wind looks like it could be a problem.


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## glhs837

stgislander said:


> Although launch prep is continuing, wind looks like it could be a problem.



I was reading that they expect the winds to diminish through the afternoon.


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## stgislander

Launch scrubbed for today.


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## stgislander

Hey @vraiblonde and @Monello.  What's the weather like in SPI this morning?  Hoping to see a rocket launch today.


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## vraiblonde

stgislander said:


> Hey @vraiblonde and @Monello.  What's the weather like in SPI this morning?  Hoping to see a rocket launch today.



Dense fog, not expected to clear up any time soon.

That's the problem with having your launch facility at Boca Chica:  the weather is quite whimsical and there's no forecasting it with any reliability.


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## Sneakers




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## vraiblonde




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## glhs837

Stay frosty, my little friend....... This is test tank, SN7.2. It's predecessor, 7.1, was used soley for pressure test to validate a new tank design. It popped a "small" leak under pressure, which was welded and testing resumed and passed. But it was only tested to the pressures needed for the next stage, the SN8 and SN 9 hop/flip/fall/flip/land. This new test tank is different in that it's believed to be the first hardware made of the custom alloy developed for Starship, and is 3mm thick, while the others were 4mm thick.  The other units were made with 304L,, while whatever this new alloy is designated, nobody's said yet. This tank is most likely going to go through tougher testing, higher pressures and for longer periods.


Related notes: 

Whatever the final alloy is, that is what the Cyber Truck will be made of.
A maor steel producer has recently annouced plans to build a major new facility near Austin Texas to supply both Tesla and SpaceX with that alloy in bulk.


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## stgislander

Sounds like no launch today.  Still pretty windy there.


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## vraiblonde

stgislander said:


> Sounds like no launch today.  Still pretty windy there.



Super windy.

Tomorrow is looking good, though.


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## glhs837




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## Sneakers

So if I read that right, they use two different fuel mixes for takeoff and landing?


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## glhs837

Sneakers said:


> So if I read that right, they use two different fuel mixes for takeoff and landing?


 
Not mixes, but sources. When falling horizontal, the fuel in the main tanks is laying on the bottom, which would be the side normally. That means it can't feed through the lines in the bottom of the tank. So they have a smaller "header" tank for wack kind of fuel that's kept pressurized just for landing.


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## glhs837

Sneakers said:


> So if I read that right, they use two different fuel mixes for takeoff and landing?



Ah, here's the fan made animation that shows it. 









						Whats happening inside the shiny steel rocket?
					

Thanks to this guy, we can show you. The blue is liquid oxygen, the red liquid methane. The two smaller tanks are "header" tanks that keep enough fuel for landing separate, since as you see, when the rocket enters "skydiver mode" the other fuel just rests in the bottom away from the feed lines...




					forums.somd.com


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## stgislander

Flight of SN9 scrubbed today because they didn't have approval from the FAA???  Weather looks great.


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## stgislander

SN9 is on the launch pad, and SpaceX is rolling out SN10.  Two Starships on the pad at once.


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## Monello

stgislander said:


> Flight of SN9 scrubbed today because they didn't have approval from the FAA???  Weather looks great.


They couldn't have had a better day for a launch.  Nice and sunny today.


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## glhs837

This shows SN10s slow walk. The guy controlling that Roll-Lift is walking behind it with a hand held controller. Also love that moving a rocket is a job for maybe 6-8 people, a COTS piece of MHE and a $5000 dollar stand for the rocket. Guessing the price of the stand, it's basically welded steel sqaure tube, figure 5-8 of those and design and welding manpower.


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## glhs837




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## stgislander

Hey @vraiblonde ... what's the weather forecast today for SPI?


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## vraiblonde

stgislander said:


> Hey @vraiblonde ... what's the weather forecast today for SPI?



Sunny and windy, high in the mid-60s.


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## stgislander

vraiblonde said:


> Sunny and windy, high in the mid-60s.


How windy?


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## vraiblonde

stgislander said:


> How windy?



Pretty windy.  15-20mph with gusts higher than that.  Several clicks above breezy, but not "OMG what the hell???"

This is not unusual for south Texas in the winter, so if SpaceX can't launch in wind they picked the wrong place to set up shop.


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## Ken King

I read that Falcon-9 weather abort criteria for winds is sustained 30 knots or higher at 162 ft at the launchpad or upper level conditions containing wind shear that could lead to control problems for the launch vehicle. 

So a little wind isn't a problem.


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## stgislander

Ken King said:


> I read that Falcon-9 weather abort criteria for winds is sustained 30 knots or higher at 162 ft at the launchpad or upper level conditions containing wind shear that could lead to control problems for the launch vehicle.
> 
> So a little wind isn't a problem.


I've not heard what the Starship criteria is.  I would expect that they'd have designed it to be able to land in some wind.


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## glhs837

Ken King said:


> I read that Falcon-9 weather abort criteria for winds is sustained 30 knots or higher at 162 ft at the launchpad or upper level conditions containing wind shear that could lead to control problems for the launch vehicle.
> 
> So a little wind isn't a problem.





stgislander said:


> I've not heard what the Starship criteria is.  I would expect that they'd have designed it to be able to land in some wind.




The thing is, during these early tests, variable reduction matters a lot. Still validating the flip and fall algorithms, I imagine. Was that overcorrection caused by bad math or high wind? Less about can the vehicle handle it and more about lets walk before we run.


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## stgislander

NasaSpaceflight.com is reporting that the FAA gave SpaceX approval late yesterday to launch SN9.

Hey @vraiblonde ... what's the weather forecast today?


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## vraiblonde

stgislander said:


> Hey @vraiblonde ... what's the weather forecast today?




Perfect for a launch   Sunny, highs in the low 70s, light breeze.


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## Monello

This might be a GO today.  Fingers crossed.


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## glhs837




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## Grumpy

Just read on one of live launch threads that 'blockcades of roads' in the area were removed..Does that mean it was scrubbed?


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## glhs837

Grumpy said:


> Just read on one of live launch threads that 'blockcades of roads' in the area were removed..Does that mean it was scrubbed?



Looking at the NSF and Labpadre feeds, nobody saying that....


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## Sneakers

Live video status board doesn't either.


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## stgislander

NSF saying that launch likely within the hour due to tank farm activity.


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## Monello

I just finished walking the dog.  Quite a good sized crowd out hoping to catch the launch.


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## stgislander

Current estimate for launch is 2:00pm CST.


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## Sneakers

Delay due to truck on the range.  Now clear, estimate 2:35C pm.


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## glhs837

Sneakers said:


> Delay due to truck on the range.  Now clear, estimate 2:35C pm.


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## glhs837

SpaceX feed up on the huge screen!!!!


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## glhs837

Well, looks like two of the engines failed to reignite. Wonder why.


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## Sneakers

I was watching Lab Padre, they missed the entire launch and climb.  Got to the Space-X camera just as they were transitioning.


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## glhs837

Sneakers said:


> I was watching Lab Padre, they missed the entire launch and climb.  Got to the Space-X camera just as they were transitioning.



Yeah, I watch amateurs til commit to launch.


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## stgislander

NASASpaceflight.com had it perfect.  It definately was not completely vertical when it hit the landing pad.


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## glhs837

stgislander said:


> NASASpaceflight.com had it perfect.  It definately was not completely vertical when it hit the landing pad.



Yeah, I think you need all three engines to get that kick.


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## stgislander

glhs837 said:


> Yeah, I think you need all three engines to get that kick.


Agree.  Plus, like SN8, it still appeared to be too fast as it approached the pad.


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## glhs837

stgislander said:


> Agree.  Plus, like SN8, it still appeared to be too fast as it approached the pad.



Yep, same problem, same symptoms. Cant slow til your vertical and get all three going. In fact, since it never got vertical, it was going faster than SN8. Wonder if the helium system had a failure.


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## Monello

F*%K Yeah!


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## Sneakers

They forgot to allow for the rotation of the earth towards the rocket.


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## Monello




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## Monello

Too bad the video doesn't capture the awesome sound.  When it exploded, the sound was delayed but was enough to set off the car alarms.


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## stgislander

It definitely rotated too far in the final seconds.  Early reports are that not all the raptors re-fired.

While reviewing their multiple cameras, the NASASpaceflight guys were saying they could see debris flying out from under the engine skirt during engine re-fire.


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## Sneakers

stgislander said:


> It definitely rotated too far in the final seconds.


I was looking at that and Monello's vid, but wasn't sure if it rotated to, and past the vertical, or if it was spinning around giving the impression it had gone past the vertical from that visual angle.


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## glhs837

So, two engines are supposed to light. They pivot, and yes, it goes past vertical then back. The blow video of SN8s final seconds shows whats supposed to happen. It was textbook perfect until the green flames. In that sense, SN8 did it better than SN9, in which that second engine never even fully lit.


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## vraiblonde

This kid was on the deck with his camera at the ready.  I said hopefully it won't blow up this time, and he said, "I hope it does because last time my camera ran out of juice."

So anyway, he got his shot.


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